To perform an action, one must use sensory information to plan the action, and then execute the required movements to achieve the goal. My lab studies a key part of the brain important for these processes – the basal ganglia.  Our research focusses on understanding how different types of neuron in the basal ganglia encode behaviour and how this goes wrong in diseases like Parkinson’s. We use in vivo single-unit recording and labelling, imaging, optogenetic manipulation, and behavioural analyses to link the molecular profile of different neurons with their role in behaviour.